A Simple Request
by m klindt
Summary: A near miss by THRUSH brings about a plan to expose moles at UNCLE headquarters and twart their plan to get a hold of UNCLE's chemical formulas. Part of my Lexi stories
1. Chapter 1

A Simple Request

By

M. Klindt

I do not own the characters of Man from UNCLE, but like to borrow them to play with the ones I've created. I thank all who have helped me. A tale in the "Lexi" series

Chapter 1

"Promise me, George," A small weak voice said barely above a whisper. "Go get my travel kit and I'll tell you what to do. I ask this one last thing of you. Not for me, but for him. He will die shortly after me and take many people with him if I don't."

George Thompson nodded sadly, stood up, released Lexi's hand, and left the room. He was too upset to talk. His voice was lost to his quivering heart. A flash explosion and a rain of shrapnel had caught everyone off guard and now she was going to pay the price of loving a top Section Two UNCLE agent.

Napoleon Solo nearly had to drag his partner out of the room let her to talk with her lab partner alone for a moment. Everyone was scared that she would pass without him by her side in the last moments. The doctors told him what he already knew and time was precious.

Illya couldn't take it anymore and ran back into the hospital room. George moved out of the way of the doorframe and grabbed Napoleon's arm. "We have a mission to save Illya. Come with me. We need to get to the lab."

"What about Lexi?" Napoleon noisily asked in confusion, but continued to put one foot in front of the other with George in the lead. "Why aren't you trying to save her?"

"She made me promise," George hushed him in a thin, tight voice. "She knows what she has to do to help him. It's the only way to keep him and us safe. You've got to help me. We need to get Mark."

"Tell me what I need to do," Napoleon said with a fierce determination not to lose another friend and agent today.

MFU/MFU

Illya sat next to the bed and gently held Lexi's hand as she drifted in and out of consciousness. They would smile at each other while he stroked her hand. Each time she would take a raspy breath in, he would cringe in fear of the number she had left.

George, Mark, and Napoleon quietly entered the room to stand behind Illya. Napoleon's hand rested upon his shoulder and felt the knotted bundles of muscles that were ready to spring out.

"What is going on?" A suspicious voice started to rise.

"Do it." The soft command slipped from her lips and she turned to the blond man. "I'm sorry. I asked them to do this for me."

Mark and Napoleon each grabbed an arm and wrestled the over-wrought and exhausted blond man to the floor face down. "What are you doing? Let go of me!"

Despite his best efforts, they held Illya down when George straddled his body and exposed his neck. Mark forcibly held his head still.

"Cervical spine space between the vertebrae 1-2, is that right?" George repeated the instructions to the still figure in the bed.

"Yes," Lexi chocked out softly. "Just a little to the right of center; into the sensory nerve, yes."

He nodded when he found the spot. "Now, hold still Illya! I only have enough to try this once."

"What are you giving me? No!" He cried out, the needled plunged into his neck. "Ahhh…the pain, it's so cold it burns."

Just as quick as the attack was, it was over. The hands that held Illya down, now gently pulled him up, off the floor and back down into the chair. Confusion and anger colored the Russian's face. He turned away from his friends and looked at the pale figure in the bed. She stared at him with wide blue eyes and dry lips that were slightly parted in an effort to breathe easier.

"Why?" he quietly asked. "Why did you have them do that to me?"

"Come lay by me." Lexi suddenly jerked and a grimace of pain crossed her face. "I want you next to me."

Illya slowly got up from the chair, shaking his head trying to clear it, and his body trembled when he carefully worked his way onto the bed to lie beside her. The others in the room were quiet and they waited for what she would say.

Lexi's voice was weak and wavered while she spoke to Illya in Russian. Mark leaned close to Napoleon and George to tell them what she was saying.

"I have two regrets in my life. One is not being able to spend more time with you and the other is not being able to give you a child. I will love you with my last breath, but you must continue on. That is why I'm doing this.

"My mother wanted you to have this drug before she died so you would take care of me for the rest of your life and I said no, because I knew that you would love me all of my life. It only works once on a person and you must live on without me. Now is the opportunity for me to give you this one gift."

Lexi continued to talk low tones to Illya, but Mark had stopped the running commentary. George looked at Mark. "What is she saying now?"

"I don't know." Mark shrugged. "It's not Russian."

"It's their own special language," Napoleon finished, watching his partner's pinched, tired face start to relax and appeared to be resting. He was listening to every word she was struggling to say in between pants.

After a few minutes of soft murmurs, Illya nodded with a smile as he drifted in to light sleep "A good friend; like cousins."

"Yes, cousins, you're burning up with fever, and need…to go back to you hospital room and get some rest…from your wounds."

"Wounds," an almost boyish smile formed on his lips.

"Yes, the one on your right arm from the…explosion." Lexi swallowed, raising her hand to Mark to take him away. "Get some sleep; you'll need it for later on."

"Come on, old man, you heard the lady." Mark leaned forward to take Illya by his good arm and pulled him gently from the bed.

"Mark," Lexi quickly said and she surprisingly grasped his arm. "Tell April that I understand that she couldn't make it in time. Take care of her, she'll need you."

"I know, Luv." Mark swallowed sadly and then finished taking a drowsy Illya from the room, before his resolve crumbled.

After a few moments to catch her breath, Lexi looked at George and smiled. Her eyes began to pool with tears. "Thank you and Cassidy for taking me in. In the top drawer of my desk, in the back, a present, and all my formulas are there. I give them to you."

"I would rather have you working with me instead of trying to figure out those silly formulas without you." George pouted, took her hand, and gave it a squeeze. His face registered a look of shock to feel how cold and fragile it was. He tried to warm it with his.

"I know, so do I," Lexi sighed wistfully. "Can you give Napoleon and me a moment, partner?"

"Of course, partner." George nodded, cleared his throat, and left the room.

"Lexi," Napoleon walked up to the bed, stopped, and crossed his arms over his chest, trying to look and sound braver than he felt. "It's just like you to leave just when things were just getting interesting."

Lexi nodded when her body jerked again and she swallowed hard. She gasped a painful intake of precious air.

"Lexi," Napoleon asked and straightened up with sheer terror of what was to come. "Are you still with me?"

"Take care of them."

The words were barely audible as her eyes glazed over and the heart monitor stopped beating and began blaring. A single tear ran down her cheek.

"I will, sweetheart," Napoleon said kissing her forehead and closing her vacant eyes with his fingers and his tears joined hers. "You certainly are a piece of work."

He turned to the monitors and shut them off.

MFU/MFU

"Damn fool!" Geerson swore harshly while kicking the crumpled and newly dead body of the man he assigned to kill Illya Kuryakin.

It was a simple plan to distract Waverly and Section Two with the murder of that Russian bastard so they could infiltrate UNCLE headquarters in New York and steal the formulas that their chemistry labs were making. Kuryakin was too knowledgeable in that field to be fooled with false chemical concoctions.

Geerson was surprised that the one they were really seeking was dating the slippery agent or that was what the rumors from his informants said were circulating around headquarters.

The Russian and new Section Eight chemist were dating until she disappeared for a long time and then, she magically showed up again. Another rumor had it that she was at Survival School during her extended disappearance. Apparently, Dr. Lane was said to have dated several of the men in UNCLE headquarters in her short time there.

This all had started when the now-dead agent, Jordan Gaff, was trying to save his own life from the mess he and his family had cost THRUSH Central. They had lost the Hillgate Sanitarium satrapy, an experimental hypnotic drug program, and a significant amount of funds. Graff had even failed to bring Kuryakin and Solo in when they had briefly captured them.

THRUSH Central had given Graff one more chance by trying to find this mysterious person, who he insisted was a new UNCLE agent and was the girlfriend of that murderous Number Two agent of Section Two.

She, herself, was a Russian assassin and spy that had left the Soviet Union to become a part of UNCLE, or that's what Graff said. What surprised Geerson was that Central allowed him to check it out this theory before they decided to pass the usual death sentence on him for his recent failures while working for THRUSH.

After several weeks of searching, Graff came back to New York to tell his bosses that he was wrong and there was no connection between Kuryakin and this ghost of a person. Oh, there was a cousin with the same last name, but she had recently died back in Kiev.

What concerned Central was how drastically Graff had changed his story and that he was seen in the company of a female at the airport just before he met up with Geerson and another agent. He was so adamant in his convictions, that they took Graff immediately to the infirmary to be checked out. He was found to have been drugged with an unknown chemical. They still killed Graff anyway, but it got Geerson to thinking.

Pierre Geerson was one of THRUSH's top agents currently at Central in New York. He normally dealt with recovery investigations in the botched missions of fellow agents within THRUSH. He was an internal affairs guy, but he had recently been ordered to report to Enemy Recognition Division, because his counter-part, who had been running it, was eliminated. Such was life within THRUSH.

One of his first assignments was to get someone or some ones into UNCLE's headquarters. Then he had to filter out what was gossip and noteworthy for THRUSH to act upon without getting their informants caught or killed. It was a tricky business and to play in the mole game between spy groups took nerves of steel.

"Is there any other report from Informant Twelve?" Geerson asked one of the subordinates as they watch the dead man being hauled away.

"The last message received states that Dr. Lane is to die at any time and her lab partner never leaves her side in medical. Many of the Section Two agent filter in as well, Kuryakin especially. His right arm wound from the explosion is infected and causing a mild fever, but nothing more."

"Yes…now it's just a waiting game," Geerson nodded. He blandly stared toward at floor and his plain, non-descript shoes. "Has Informant Six reported in?"

"Only to report that security at headquarters has been tightened around medical and all entrances."

"Good," Geerson said with a menacing smile and lifted his head up. "Let them stew for awhile. Report to me immediately if any of the informants call in, I'll be in my office's file room. I just had a thought."

"Yes sir."

MFU/MFU

George Thompson and Monica Lane's lab was quiet and empty when the janitor came in to sweep the floor. Aware that he was being watched by the surveillance camera, he turned his back to it and pulled a photograph out of his pocket that was on a telescoping arm with a magnet attached on one end.

Sweeping backwards towards the camera, the housekeeper glided under it, reached up, under it to place the photo in front of the lens, and then quickly put the broom against the wall.

Without a word, he instantly went to Lane's desk and started to search for a list of formulas that were supposed to be in there. Informant Twelve had mentioned in the message where the dying chemist had her papers hidden. She would know, Informant Twelve was watching her death from the two-way mirror in medical.

He wordlessly snorted at the thought of Informant Twelve's tight, quivering voice as if she had been crying for the woman. That must have been quite a scene to behold. No one deserved it more than Kuryakin to suffer the death of a loved one, he thought. He single-handedly had foiled THRUSH efforts in so many ways. He'd also murdered his brother in an escape attempt last year. Solo with Kuryakin were more than a deadly pair, they were practically unbeatable.

"THRUSH will get its revenge today," he murmured to himself. "First, Kuryakin's girlfriend is dead and then her formulas were going to be taken to THRUSH Central."

Running his hands under the top flat drawer of the desk, he felt a small catch and smiled. A tray click open and two manila envelopes fall down into his eager hands. Quickly, he inspected the contents of each package and found what he was looking for. Several sheets of paper stapled together with notations and formulas that proved to be beyond his basic comprehension of chemistry, all in a neat hand-written script.

The other packet included a savings bond and architectural plans to a townhouse with a certain room highlighted. "A baby's room…"

The man whistled softly out in shock. Was Lane pregnant with Kuryakin's baby? Revenge was even sweeter if it was, thought the traitor, as he would certainly get a bonus for that little tid bit from Geerson.

The janitor pulled out the notes, stuffed them into his shirt under his jumpsuit, put everything back where he found them, went to pick up his broom, and removed the photo from the camera's view. This made it to have appeared he had swept the other room first. He finished the lab's floor and then left the room.

All of this action was caught on a second, concealed camera strategically placed on the opposite side of the lab that was unknown to the spy. The cable that fed to that hidden camera ran right up to Mr. Waverly's office. He silently watched the action before him, but didn't stop it.

"Open Channel D," Waverly said in a strong, assured voice. "Miss Dancer."

"Yes sir." April Dancer's voice rang through the secure office.

"The bait has been taken. Follow him to see where he goes. We want him to get all the way home. Don't let him see you or all of this will have been for nothing." Waverly flipped another switch to signal Mr. Solo that part one of getting rid of this kind of vermin was over with. "Let's hope that there is only one this time."

"Yes sir, Dancer out." The channel clicked closed.

MFU/MFU

Napoleon Solo walked behind the orderly that was pushing the cart with Lexi's lifeless body to the building's morgue. His face was drawn and tight from the tears that had dried on it. Blood-shot eyes completed the look of sorrow on his face and those who shared the elevator with them looked away out respect for the dead.

The morgue was situated on the ground level, in the rear of UNCLE headquarters, by the underground level of the public parking garage. It made it easier to get bodies in and out without too much suspicion.

Once in the main room of the morgue, Solo relieved the orderly of his duty of waiting for the Medical Examiner to check the body in. He told the man that he wanted to say his final goodbyes. Already nervous being in the morgue and in the CEA's presence, the young man awkwardly nodded his relief and hastily left the room.

Napoleon scanned the room causally. He looked for the security camera that he knew was in every room of headquarters and then looked at his watch. Everything was running on time.

Just as he straightened his cuffs and put his hands in the pockets of his jacket, a small chirp rang out from his pen communicator. He watched the light on the camera shut off. "Showtime, Lexi."

Drawing back the sheet from over her body, he turned her head and plugged a small hypodermic needle into the nape of her ghostly pale neck.

After a few tense seconds of watching Lexi's motionless body, he wondered if the drug that slowed her heart rate and blood pressure way down was working too well. Napoleon went to feel for a pulse in her cold, limp arm and called softly to her. "Lexi, come on sweetheart. Tell me we haven't screwed this all up. Show me a sign. You know that I'll be in deep shit with Illya if you don't rise and shine. How can we run away together it you're already rigid?"

Napoleon tried to wake her up with his voice. He then started to rub her arms to encourage circulation. Slowly, Lexi's skin began to pink up and her breathing became more noticeable.

"I thought it was "frigid' and 'bitch' went after it?" Lexi breathed out heavily after she opened her eyes only to close them quickly in a grimace of pain from her chest injury. "I think that you just don't want to face the Nordic Ice Prince on your own."

"Not without his Nordic Ice Princess, I don't," Napoleon said with relief and concern at the same time. "How's your side feeling? Can you do this?"

"I'm fine," Lexi said through gritted teeth and she held out a hand for Napoleon to help her sit up, using her other one to help protect her chest from the movement. She was trying hard to get her head to stop spinning around the room like a top.

"Where have I heard that before?" Napoleon rolled his eyes while he let her get her bearings after she sat up, and then helped her stand. She was leaning rather heavily on him for support.

Lexi wavered, stood, and then started to untie the strings of the hospital gown at her front. Napoleon still kept his hand firmly around her waist to keep her upright.

"Where are my clothes, Napoleon?" she asked in a strong French accent to emphasize his name. It sent seductive chills down his back every time she said it that way and she knew it.

"They're hidden where the bodies are kept." He smiled at her. "Can I trust you not to fall over if I let you go and get them from cold storage?"

"I'll put you into cold storage it you don't get them now," she growled out in frustration of having to have his help to stand, and from the pain that ripped throughout her side when she lifted one of her arms slowly up to loosen the gown ties at her neck. Lexi grabbed the gurney to prevent herself from falling.

Napoleon laughed at her gruffness and only released her once he knew that she could stand, even though she was leaning heavily to one side. He went to get her clothes, purse, and a long blond wig. "You know, you're lucky I like Russians…"

"Napoleon, you like females of all nationalities. Now give me those clothes before I freeze to death." Lexi stripped off the gown to reveal an injured naked body with only an id band on her wrist.

Even though she had lost her tan, pale from the blood loss, had a dressing on her left chest wall, and bruising that spread over her torso and random areas around her body, Napoleon took a breath in at her beauty. He held out her clothes to her and smiled at her tart remarks. She wasn't a bit concerned that he was taking in her naked form.

"You're a cad, Napoleon," Lexi said, grabbed the clothes and started to dress quickly as she could with her injuries. "You could at least act a little embarrassed for my sake and help me before Waverly turns that camera back on and he gets a show, Cossack!"

Napoleon just shook his head and helped her finish getting her sweater and wig on to walk out of headquarters on her own as if she were just another secretary from a downtown office going to lunch. He silently worried that she looked too fragile and weak to walk a straight line or down the street to a taxi stop. He remembered the last time that she looked this bad off and had threatened to pass out in front of Waverly.

"Do I look presentable?" she asked him, placing the purse over her arm, wetted her newly applied lipstick, and had a badge on the pocket of her cardigan sweater.

"Only thing I can think of is a sack lunch to eat," Napoleon said and stressed the need. "When was the last time you had something to eat?"

"Napoleon," Lexi said. She gave him a hard stare he was used to getting from his partner, which he chose to ignore. "It's hard to eat when you're playing dead, but I promise to let Caitlin wine and dine me while we stay up all night and talk about you, your huge ego, and other, smaller body parts."

"What ever gets you to rest, and without the wine, if you don't mind? Remember, you're on restricted duty," Napoleon said casually with a smile, but then gave her a scolding look. "And that's an order. Waverly would be upset if we had another agent who didn't listen…"

"I don't know who you are talking about," Lexi said and merely shrugged, watching Napoleon stow the cart into a cold storage unit, and then pointing to the opposite entrance of the morgue before he took the handle of the door they had come through. "Just keep me informed as to when I can come back to my lab and Illya."

"I will. Stay safe," Napoleon softly said from across the cold sterile room. "Caitlin will call and tell me that you got there safely. Please, eat something, you look like shit."

"I, myself, prefer death warmed over," Lexi said with a little mirth and then became serious. "I will, Napoleon."

After a silent moment of looking at each other and receiving a small nod, they each left through their respective doors.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Mr. Geerson," his secretary called over the income. "I have two communiqués from two of your informants at UNCLE."

The dark haired man with a touch of gray on his temples depressed the com button and put down his pen on the notepad where he was scribbling his ideas to a thought that had popped into his mind. A string of thoughts actually, that might tie everything together and would help him identify the soon to be dead UNCLE chemist.

"Please come into my office." He swiveled around from the desk, which he had placed by the windows to the one that faced the doors. Geerson rubbed the corners of his eyes from the strain after he pulled his glasses off and threw them on the desk.

The secretary brought the notes, placed them on the desk, and waited patiently for the next instruction. He picked up the notes and read them out loud. He knew that his secretary had read them already.

"Informant Five has gotten the formulas out of UNCLE without any interruptions and is heading in. Tell agents Cannon and Brown to meet him and get those formulas to the boys in the lab to see if they are authentic. Then, I want that informant transferred to another department. We can no longer use him at UNCLE headquarters."

"Sir?" the secretary asked.

"Either, they're trying to draw us out into the open, the formulas are useless and we just lost a well-placed informant or we have managed to get something away from the great Alexander Waverly. I think it's the first option and the biggest question is if they have found any of the other informants and our plans to kill Kuryakin should be scraped."

"My other informant states that Lane is dead and that Mr. Solo, himself, took the body down to the morgue. She is currently on her lunch break and on the standby, waiting for further directions, if needed. Her, I want to talk to."

Suddenly, the phone ran as Geerson was about to dismiss his secretary. Picking up the phone, he waved her out of the office. "Geerson here, yes, put her through."

As he listened to the person on the line, he looked turned back to the desk behind him and picked up his notepad.

"Long blond hair… pale face…walking a little slower…lot like Lane and wearing a hospital id band? Walking out the front door from headquarters carrying dry-cleaning…same build and body type? Yes, delay her and I'll get one of our cabs over there. Great job, Twelve. When this is done, go back in as if nothing happened, if you can. Hopefully they won't notice and we can precede, Geerson, out."

He hung up the receiver and smiled at his good luck. He may have had lost one of his informants in UNCLE, but could gain a chemist who could help with the destruction of UNCLE's dynamic duo instead, if he played his cards just right.

"Miss Rodriguez," Geerson firmly said and pressed the com button. "Call Mackenzie for me, tell him to meet me in my office, and contact Daily and Kim. Their services are needed. We've got to act quickly. Time is of the essence."

"Yes, Mr. Geerson."

MFU/MFU

Monica Lane didn't realize how hungry dying and being dead had made her until she left the security of Del Floria's tailor shop with her dry cleaning in one hand and her purse in the other.

Now that the drug used to slow her heart and blood pressure was wearing off, she was feeling more in control of her body. Although she was still pale and tired looking, she felt strong enough to complete her mission of getting out of headquarters and to Caitlin's townhouse while trying not to draw too much attention.

When Lexi walked up the short flight of steps to street level, she felt the warmth of the bright sunshine and the smell of the local food venders just down the block situated near a small park. It was opposite to where she was suppose to be going, but then, she had promised Napoleon that she would eat. She always could get a cab on the other side of the park when she was done, the wigged agent reasoned to herself.

The traffic was light as she crossed the street and stopped in front of a hotdog stand. Normally, it was one of those places that she avoided, because of her usual disinterest in hotdogs, but for some reason, today was different. Her stomach growled in agreement in her choice for lunch.

"What will it be, lady?" A portly vendor with a cigar and soiled apron asked. A breeze swept in from the park, blowing her hair into her eyes.

"Two hotdogs with sauerkraut, please," Lane said, fishing out money from the wallet in her purse and vainly tried to remove strands of hair from her face.

"Anything to drink with that?" the man said, not lifting his eyes from putting the pink meat in their buns.

"Do you have any juice?"

"Apple or orange."

"Orange," Lexi said and handed it to the nodding man three dollars. "Keep the change."

"Have a good day lady," the man said loudly, but then murmured under his breath: "Watch out for those birds."

Surprised, she gave the man another quick glance and then smiled at the UNCLE sentry. "I will. Thank you for the food."

Lexi walked to one of the benches by a large central fountain and sat down. A movement caught her eye before she set her dry cleaning, purse, and drink down. It was one of the staff that worked in medical at headquarters and she was walking toward her in the park.

"Merde" Lexi cursed to herself in French. She quickly looked at her watch and acted as if she was running late. The Section Two agent took a bite of one of her hotdogs while picking up her stuff to move on. Lane tried to ignore the ache in her side that was constantly reminding her that she wasn't in the best of health right now.

Luckily, the medical tech. didn't seem to recognize her, sat down on one of the benches, and picked up a book to read. A sigh of relief left Lexi's lungs. She dumped the unfinished hotdogs in the trash and took a sip of the orange juice while she walked away.

Lexi quietly moved to the back side of the ornate, cement fountain and kept the UNCLE worker safely in her periphery as she walked deeper into the park's foliage.

"She's got away, but is heading into the park and my guess to the other side to find a cab or meet with someone," Informant Twelve said quietly in her book. "I think that I scared her off, but she didn't act like she knew that I worked for THRUSH. Just recognized me as part of headquarters' medical ward, I hope."

"Go back to headquarters and proceed according to the plan. I want to know if Kuryakin acts just like Graff did or not. I want to know if she is really the chemist we're after or if it's someone else besides Kuryakin working with Thompson. We don't want antidotes; we want someone who can create hypnotics."

"She still has her uses if she is for real or just a decoy to trick us. I can't leave anything to chance with Waverly, Geerson out."

"Yes sir, Twelve out," the informant agreed and closed her book. She waved to the hotdog vendor and casually walked back to the hidden employee entrance. She went back to the medical lab before checking on one of her favorite agents.

MFU/MFU

Illya Kuryakin sighed in frustration and boredom while he lied on his hospital bed in Medical. He kept his eyes closed while he thought of his and Lexi's performance in her monitored room. It had caught him off guard that she had a secret formula and she hadn't told him about from her special travel kit that she carried with her up until now.

It had been the only thing Lexi had left from her mother other than the golden rings they each had. They're gifts to them from her mother to remember their fathers just after they were murdered by the Nazis during the war for spying.

In some ways, Lexi's mother had been his, because she took care of him and his father after they had left the Gypsy's camp and Illya's grandmother to fight in the war. His mother had died trying to give birth to his premature brother three years before their families knew each other.

He saw Mutti's warmth and love in Lexi's eyes during her great performance. THRUSH had gotten close to ending it all for him and Lexi with the car bomb when they were on a currier mission, but they had sensed something was wrong just in time to escape the worst of the blast.

Thinking of the explosion, he unconsciously tensed his arm and a sharp pain ran up it. The pain pills were wearing off and the wound was starting to come alive with a vengeance of pain and sensitivity.

Then the next thought hit Illya's mind while he laid there waiting for Napoleon to tell him that things went according to their plans. What did THRUSH want this time if they were so willing to hurt innocent people to see him dead? Usually, they were more cunning than that. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and a person opened the door slightly.

"Illya," Napoleon said calmly, peering around the edge of the door. "Are you awake? I have some bad news to tell you."

Illya turned over from his side to lie back against the mattress. His seriously looking partner walked into the hospital room, grabbed a chair, sat down, and leaned in close. Near enough to his ear that the monitors in the room couldn't hear what he was saying to his blond friend.

"She woke up fine and was out the door right on schedule." Napoleon whispered to him and Illya nodded with a grimace on his face. "The sentry by the park said that she went by him after getting something to eat. At least she listened to me this time about eating."

"Anyone unusual following her," Illya asked quietly, turned his head and placed his arm over his face to pretend he was upset instead of relieved.

"No," Napoleon said in a normal voice, gently patted Illya's arm, and stood up while he was trying to console his partner. "I have to go make some arrangements. As soon as Dr. Allen says you can leave, call me, and we'll get you home to rest."

Illya only nodded, playing his part of being upset about the news of Lexi's death. Before the door had closed completely after Napoleon, a nurse came in with a tray of food and medicine. Bringing his arm back down to his side, he gave the person a sideways glance to see who it was and then he steeled his features slightly. It was Constance Parker.

He had known Constance for a few years now, but had never really liked her for some unknown reason. Maybe, it was because she held her ground about keeping him in medical longer than he thought necessary and gave him more pain medicine than he liked.

The doctors liked her because she was could get her patients to mind, but Illya only did what she wanted just to get away from her and medical. He somehow knew that he'd be "resting" longer this time than was planned. She always follows all the doctor's orders to their fullest extent.

"I saw that Napoleon was here and figured that you were awake, Illya. Is there a chance that you might be hungry enough to eat while I give you your prescribed medications?" the nurse asked with a small, sad smile on her face.

"I don't know how hungry I am yet, Constance." Illya sighed sadly and watched her set the tray down. "I suppose that you heard about Dr. Lane?"

"Yes, I did," she said with a rush of relief that he wanted to talk about it, sat on the edge of is bed, and placed her hand on his for a moment before beginning her duties. "I'm so sorry, Illya, I know that she meant a lot to you and now she is dead. It was so sweet of you to be there for her and hold her hand. I had heard the rumors that you two had been a couple, but didn't know just how close until just recently."

"Well," he said with a shocked voice in how much she thought she knew and actually did know. "Really, we were just friends. Almost cousins as it were. We had worked closely together in the labs and she must have said that we were more than friends to someone."

"You mean that you two weren't dating?" Constance asked and stopped what she was doing to look him directly in the eyes suspiciously.

"We had dated when she first came to headquarters, but decided it was better to be just friends. Then she had to go to Egypt to work on a study in their chemistry lab there for three months. It made things easier that way…"

"So, what about the last two day when you stayed by her side?" she continued to search his face for telltale signs of more there than what he was saying. "I saw you hold her hand."

"Oh, that. Napoleon, Mark, and George were there too. She was dying and asked me to be there for her as a friend. George Thompson, her partner held her hand and even kissed her on the forehead."

"Yeah, but George didn't crawl into bed with her," she now said in a tight, accusing voice to watch his reaction.

"I don't remember that," Illya said while trying to clear the confusion in his mind and started to rub his neck where the drug had been injected. "I was feverish and don't know why I thought that I needed to lie down next to her. Mark took me back to this room to sleep. I was very tired and confused..."

"Illya, does your head hurt now?" Constance asked, trying to get him to focus on what she was saying instead of blankly staring off.

"Does my head hurt? What?" he repeated what she had said, looking back at her, and then he dropped his arm back down to his side. A vague stillness colored his eyes. He was trying to remember what she had asked of him while determining how he should feel about it. "No, but I am kind of weak and hungry. I was hoping to get out of here by now and go home."

"Sorry, I'll have to ask the doctors first, but only after you eat, I take your vitals, check your wound, and give you your antibiotics."

Illya nodded and then leaned forward to look at the food on the tray table and then only to grimace heavily. He wasn't so sure that Napoleon's plan to flush out the mole in headquarters was worth eating hospital food for, but he had managed to eat enough to satisfy some of his hunger and Constance.

Illya patiently waited for her to take his temperature, pulse, respirations, and blood pressure before he started to grit his teeth in frustration and pain as she redressed his wound, hung a medicine bag, and finally inject his IV tubing with a syringe of an unknown drug.

"What was in that hypo?" Illya asked when she cranked the flow of saline up to flush it quickly into his system. It burned his arm when it ran through his vein.

"Just a sedative ordered by the good Dr. Samuel, so you will get some real rest," she grinned with contentment and watched until his eyelids were no longer able to support themselves. Illya mumble out a curse before falling back onto the bed and into unconsciousness.

Constance straightened out the blond man's body, checked his IV site, and smiled before she left the room. At the nurse's desk, she picked up the phone, dialed a number, and waited for an answer.

"Yes, this is Constance up in medical ward B. I need a blood drawn on Mr. Kuryakin. He's sedated right now and it shouldn't be a problem to get a sample while he is sleeping. Thank you. The doctor's orders for the lab work are at the station desk. Goodbye."

MFU/MFU

_Knock, knock._

George Thompson was startled by the tapping at his lab door. He was lost in thought over the blueprints left in Lexi's desk. As expected, the fake formulas were gone, but the house plans with the baby's room were left behind. Only by looking very closely at the prints, he could see his and Cassidy's name on the line representing the front door, but no address was listed.

He and his wife grew up in families who were not very well off and they struggled to pay for their education and first apartment. This gift by Lexi and Illya was so overwhelming to him that he jumped at the second intruding noise and quickly hid away the plans in his own desk.

"Come in," George said, lifting his head, and remembered his role in this mission from Mr. Waverly.

A young woman with big brown eyes and hair to match tentatively walked into his lab carrying a tackle box that held stoppered glass tubes of blood samples. "Dr. Thompson, I have the blood sample from Mr. Kuryakin you requested."

"Ah, yes…" George said slowly after she set down the box and picked out the vial to give him. "I suppose you heard…"

"Oh George," she came over to him and placed her hand on his slumped shoulder. "I'm so terribly sorry. I know that you really cared for Dr. Lane. I've never seen you happier to work with someone and now she is gone. I don't know who will feel it worse, you or Mr. Kuryakin. I think that you do, because of the way Constance is talking, he doesn't seem to care that he has lost his girlfriend…"

"Illya and Monica were close, but they were more friends than anything. She was actually dating Reed from Section Three, but insisted that I give Illya a strong sedative because of his injuries. I can't say she did me that favor," George said with resentment that edged toward anger. She and Illya were on a mission for Waverly when the explosion happened."

"What do you mean?" she asked as she thought about the tone in his voice and posture. "Is that what that shot in the neck did to him? Why give it there? Is that why you wanted a blood sample?"

"Yes, it relaxes the body and mind for a longer period of time, Natalie." George nodded his lowered head. "Monica was so gifted in chemistry and she created drugs that I can't even begin to comprehend how to recreate.

"She tried to show me, but was sent off to a lab in Egypt to help develop a serum before she could show me all of her processes. I'm at loss and now that she is…gone. Waverly will expect that I'll be able to complete what she had started. I don't know if I can do it."

"Shh…George, it will be all right. You shouldn't stay here right now. In fact, no one expects you to be here." Natalie gave his shoulders a hard squeeze and released them. "You've just lost you lab partner and good friend. Go home. You'll have plenty of time to check Mr. Kuryakin's blood. Put it in a safe place and get out of headquarters for a while."

"Yes, that good advice," he said with a nod and stood up to set the blood sample into cold storage.

"By the way," she asked before she started to pick up her other samples. "What's the drug supposed to do?"

"I guess that it's no secret now." George shrugged his shoulders. "It's a chemical reaction that allows the controller to suggest an idea or thought into their subject's mind so powerful that the subject will follow it, but for how long, I don't know."

"Wow," an impressed Natalie said. "I guess that you would have to know what you want that person to do. What did Monica want Illya to do?"

"Ah, that is the basis of their friendship and short whirlwind romance." George smiled sadly, taking off his lab coat, and placed it on a hook. "She asked him not to seek revenge or blame himself for the bombing. To only remember that they were just friends and save us all from Illya's wrath."

"Double wow. All that from just one injection in the neck," Natalie asked and stood rooted to the spot.

"Yes, that is why Monica will be sorely missed by all in UNCLE and the scientific world." George nodded, grabbed his heavy winter coat, fished out the blueprints from his deck, and pulled out his keys before he walked her to the door. "Thanks for bringing me the blood sample and telling me to go home. I needed someone to tell me what to do right now since Lexi's not her to kick me in the ass."

"George, things will get better and hopefully soon," Natalie smiled warmly, the two walking out of the lab, and then watched him leave after he waved goodbye. Then she softly patted the pocket of her lab coat and turned to walk away back to the medical labs.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The phone rang in the office Napoleon shared with Illya. He was waiting to hear from Caitlin and Illya; Caitlin to tell him that Lexi had made it safely to his steady girlfriend's apartment in the city and from Illya, who as call to when he could get out of medical. Both of them were taking their own sweet time to call him, but it gave him a chance to get some paperwork done.

"Solo here," Napoleon said pleasantly and put his pen down.

"Sir, you have an outside call coming in. The standard sweep for listening devices was done and none noted." The operator at headquarters finished as per routine. "Are you accepting calls at this time?"

"Yes, put it through on a secured line." Napoleon heard a soft click in the earpiece and he was connected to an outside phone on what sounded like a busy street in the background, making it hard to hear who was on the line. "Hello, Solo here."

"Napoleon, are you there?" Caitlin's questioning voice sounded concerned to his trained mind. Something felt instantly wrong.

"Yes dear," he said calmly, hoping that he was just overreacting. "Have you met with your party for the afternoon?"

"That's just it. My friend is over an hour late and I haven't seen her yet." Caitlin's voice became very still. "I was hoping that you're going to tell me that she was running late from the office."

"No," he whistled softly through his teeth. "She may have gotten caught in traffic. Give her another half an hour and then head home. Maybe, she went there directly? I'll check it out from this end. Thanks for calling me and I'll let you know if she returns here."

"Yes darling," Caitlin's voice flattened out with a touch of concern hidden within it. "I haven't got a chance to visit with her much lately. I'll let you know if she shows up for our shopping trip, goodbye."

"Goodbye." Napoleon hung up the phone, leaned forward to rest his elbows on the desk and proceeded to run his fingers through his hair. "Well, Miss Lane, you certainly are a piece of work. Now I have to get Illya out of medical and find out where the hell you are this time."

Napoleon slowly sat up from his desk, picked up the phone, dialed a number, and asked Heather if Mr. Waverly was in his office.

"He's been waiting for your phone call for quite a while."

"I figured as such," he said with a frown. "Tell him I'll be up presently after I make a few phone calls and get Illya from goofing around in medical."

"Yes Napoleon, I will tell him."

MFU/MFU

Consciousness came slowly to Lexi because her head decided to pound out the latest Beatles tune. Through closed eyes, she did a quick check of her surroundings: oxygen tubing running in her nose, tape from an IV tugging at her hand, rough bed sheets, and a noise of a heart monitor in the background.

"Dr. Lane," a man's voice called out to her. "It's time for you to wake up and talk to me."

Lexi drily swallowed and forced her eyes open to actually look around the room. "Where am I and why did you call me Dr. Lane? I'm a secretary for Mr. Dixon's office in the Paxton Building…"

"You are at THRUSH Central infirmary and I'm Mr. Geerson, your host." He smiled at her for her believability and training. "And, I know that you are from UNCLE headquarters, a chemist, possibly a Section Two agent, and have just given the best death performance on record for my informants' benefits."

"Moles as in plural and not just one mole, Mr. Geerson," Lexi stated in a raspy voice. "You're very observant. No wonder you're the man running the show."

"Coming from you, I will take that as a compliment." Geerson grabbed the hand control and started to raise the head of the bed. "Now let's get you comfortable so we can talk."

The motion of the bed caused Lexi to jump from the pulling ache it was causing to her wounded side while she continued to take in the rest of the room and herself. Her thoughts were still muddled from the knock out gas that had engulfed the cab.

The bright lights in the room that they had turned on were blinding. Lexi noticed that she was, yet again, in a thin gown with nothing else on. All of her special toys were gone, she thought, and her wounded side felt even more painful than before.

"We were surprised that Waverly and Solo were so sure of themselves, that they'd let you just stroll out of Del Floria's without a second look. We couldn't resist in offering you a special invitation so we could finally meet. Your reputation is impressive, Dr. Lane, or, can I call you Monica?"

Geerson chatted casually while he watched her trained eyes look around the room, to herself, and finally up to see what was in the IV solution.

"Oh, don't worry, we realize that you were still hurt from that nasty explosion meant for your pig of a boyfriend and still needed some medical attention. There's nothing but saline in that bag and oxygen in the tubing. The doctors say your side is healing well despite your little journey outside this afternoon and our tranquilizing gas. UNCLE should really be more careful with their injured agents…"

"What makes you think that I'm not just a clever decoy?" she asked softly, her eyes began to focus better and the headache was clearing up. "Maybe you were meant to find me so the real one could get away?"

"No, my dear, I think not this time," he shook his head. "There's too much evidence out there to point to you, I'm afraid. Even if you were a '_clever decoy_' as you say, I know that you have a close relationship with our much hated Section Two, Number Two agent. We at Central, have a special spot in our hearts for him. In fact, we tried to love him to pieces."

"He's my superior, not my boyfriend." Lexi gave Geerson a cold hard stare, much like her Russian counterpart and then shut down all expressions. "Can I have a drink of water?"

"But of course, my dear." Geerson smiled after the stone wall fell across her face and signaled to a medic to get a glass of water. "I think that I'm going to let you digest all of this and allow you to get some rest. I still have to check on a few things before we continue our little chat. Oh, I will warn you that if you refuse to help us, your health and accommodations will become less hospitable."

Geerson laughed out at her refusal to comment or react to his last statement. He took her straight forward stare and stiff body as signs that she was truly a trained Section Two agent and then turned to the medic.

"Keep our guest here somewhat comfortable. Get her to drink and eat so that she has the energy to continue our discussion, but not strong enough to get away. No pain medications. I have to go to the lab and then to my office for a little while. I know that UNCLE will be aware that she has been taken by now. We need to know how they'll respond."

"Yes sir."

MFU/MFU

Napoleon entered Illya's hospital room to see his blond partner sound asleep. "Illya, wake up. This is not time to sleep. You should have been out of here at least an hour and half ago."

Not being able to arouse Illya by his voice alone, Napoleon did something he normally wouldn't do and shook his partner's shoulder, but got no response. Odd, he thought, picking up his current medical chart and noticed an additional medication given along with the antibiotics since the last time he had been in the room.

"Constance," Napoleon said in a hiss of frustration, pushing the call button. "Of all the times to knock you completely out…Constance!"

"What is all this yelling in here, Napoleon?" Constance asked when she walked into the room and switched off the call light. "He's been sleeping soundly for about an hour or so now. I don't want to wake him up. He's been through a lot and may still have that drug running through his body. Dr. Samuel didn't want him to leave medical right now, not after this morning."

"Mr. Waverly wants him up in his office right now to help with an issue," he said, battling with her. "Now, give Mr. Kuryakin something to counteract the sedative so we can get going."

"But, the doctor…" Constance started to argue her actions with him.

"I'm the CEA and I'm sure that Mr. Waverly will tell you the same." Napoleon threatened as he stood face to face with the head-strong nurse.

"I will call Dr. Allen and get an order." Constance gave in and turned from the room. She was smart enough to know when to pick her battles with Napoleon and this wasn't one of them. She just hoped that Illya would understand that she was under doctor's orders when she sedated him.

MFU/MFU

"Well, Monica, you are looking better." Geerson gleefully smiled when he entered the medical detention cell with papers in his hands. "See what even an hour of additional rest and proper care will do for a person."

Lexi was no longer in the bed, nor did she have an IV in her arm or oxygen tubing around her nose and ears. Playing up her weakness, she sat quietly at the small table with her blank expression and she idly played with the dressing on the top of her hand.

Geerson sat down, opposite her, and placed his papers before her. Her eyes traveled to them briefly and then back straight ahead. Her blue eyes were crystal clear and magnetizing to behold. They took his breath away while he held her unwavering stare.

Her expression stayed the same, but he could tell that she heard everything he had said and wasn't going to give out any information easily. He welcomed the challenge.

"I am here to connect the dots and register you in THRUSH's data base. I think that you've been connected lately with several plots to destroy our operations here in New York. Your special relationship with Mr. Kuryakin gives us an advantage into bringing not only him down, but UNCLE as well. But, that isn't the only advantage we have in having you here with us."

Lexi's eyes widened slightly, but she remained passive to his words. He watched her face with interest and then smirked. "You are so much like him. Did you two grow up together? Do you have some of the same training and skills as he? Similar state schools and commanding officers until you went to the KGB and he to GRU? Did he leave you behind to join UNCLE? But, then you were reported dead and now work for UNCLE as well didn't you?"

Still, there was no response or acknowledgement from her except only to break her eye contact with him and look down at the papers.

"I could simply give you over to the agents in enforcement who would love to wave you in front of Solo and Kuryakin and when they killed the dynamic duo, they'd simply end your life as well.

"Once again, like Kuryakin, you've undeniable talents in the sciences. Chemistry for you and your boyfriend favored quantum physics and explosives. Quite the pair of highly trained spies?"

"How did I find all this out?" The man asked rhetorically. "I remembered a vague request come across my desk to contact our people in the Soviet Union for information on Alexana Kuryakin by a now dead operative, Mr. Davis. Then, another similar request for Alexana Kuryakin's history was asked by Mr. Graff. I wouldn't have made the connection if I hadn't handled both the requests personally."

Giving no reaction to all of this, Geerson pulled a medical file out of the bottom of the pile. Lexi had gone back to staring straight ahead, but with the smallest smirk on her lips and her eyes sparkled brightly. "Alexana Kuryakin is dead."

"This is our new file on you, Miss Monica Alexis Lane," he said and opened up the thin folder. "I've your real name in here as well, the physical exam we conducted on you while we waited for you to wake up, some labwork on your blood, and your formulas. Oh, and this notebook, I assume that's yours. I've had the lab boys check the formulas that were in your desk that we've just recently appropriated and they are all missing a key ingredient or process."

That brought a brighter smile to her face, but no comment.

"I compared it with this recovered notebook and realized that the handwriting was the same, but the true formulas are in an unknown language. I found someone in cryptology that had worked with Mr. Davis and remembered trying to break the code, but to no avail. I have her working on it again. We'll find out what's in those notes of yours with or without your help."

The room was silent for a few moments as the battle of wills continued.

"I also have a sample of Mr. Kuryakin's blood and it's got the same unknown chemical that Mr. Graff's had. I assume that's why Graff wouldn't bring you in himself. I believe you were on the plane with him."

"Couldn't harm me, he loved me too much." She said smoothly. "He would die first."

"And so he did. Is it the same for your loverboy?" Geerson asked and then he thought about it. "Or just the opposite, you don't want him to care about you. So, that we wouldn't have extra leverage to use against him when UNCLE tries to gets you back, smart girl."

"I know of an agent to a great man in the French Government." Lexi started to tell a story out of the blue in a French purr. "This great leader and this agent had a forbidden love affair that supposedly only the two men knew anything about. An unnatural love that if found out, would ruin all involved."

Geerson's face paled, suddenly drained of blood. He intently listened to her story and sat stiffly upright in the chair.

"Bad people found out about them and sent a young "boy" to offer a proposition to this great man that they would ignore this secret relationship if this man would do what was asked of him from time to time. The man refused to be a pawn in the spy game that would've let him exist the way he had before.

"The great man's life was taken by this young 'boy', but not until after the love affair was exposed, the younger man's reputation was destroyed in Paris, and most in other governmental circles around Europe, just as the scandal made headlines."

Shock and anger filled his face when Lexi finished the story with a wolfish look on her face and an evil grin on her lips. His reaction was instant when he backhanded her across the face; sending her to the floor. She chose to stay there after Geerson stood up over her, clinching his fists, and trying to control his urge to kick her.

"Take her to an interrogation cell. She's no longer deserves special treatment from us." He growled and he paced the room to release his anger. Two medics picked her up from the floor and started to walk her out of the room. "Be careful with her, she maybe pregnant with Kuryakin's baby. I haven't got that lab result back yet to tell me otherwise. Have Dr. Nimmons meet me there in twenty minutes."

Lexi let the men hold her by her arms and didn't resist, but merely continued to smile at Geerson while they lead her from the room.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Illya and Napoleon walked into Mr. Waverly's office to find the elder gentleman puffing heavily on his pipe, deep in thought, and with a look of frustration plastered on his creased face. The room was filled with smoke that hung heavily in halos around the light fixtures.

"Gentlemen, come in and sit down." He waved the two agents in while he casted a shrewd eye to Kuryakin. "Mr. Kuryakin, I hope that you're feeling better."

"I'm fine," Kuryakin said in a thin, tight voice and stiffly sat down into his usual chair trying not to favor is injured arm.

Illya's face was pale with a slight gleam of sweat on his brow. He looked angry and dazed at the same time. Waverly then turned his eye to Solo. He was to report to him over two hours ago about his mole problem.

"Mr. Solo," Waverly barked.

"Sir," Napoleon answered with a look of surprise and unease when Waverly drew his attention away from assessing his partner's health to the matter at hand.

"I assumed that since Mr. Kuryakin is here instead of in Medical or on the way home and you are late in reporting to me Miss Lane's present location that something isn't going according to your plan?"

"Ah…no sir, it's not." Solo tried to clear his throat to the sudden dryness that had settled there. Even with the simplest of questions, Waverly could turn up the heat. "My contact called and said that she didn't make it to the check point. I brought Mr. Kuryakin here with me to fill in these blanks I can without disturbing our plan of attack."

"Proceed," Waverly gruffly said and stopped puffing on his pipe. He knew that not many people were privy to the whole mission except for those sitting in his room now and Miss Lane. "I will only add that Ms. Dancer has not checked in as well."

"Yes sir, I'm aware of that." Solo agreed. "I was in security when they reported that she missed her check in. The signal on Miss Dancer's communicator was deactivated within a four block radius of where Miss Lane's ended. I suggest that Illya and I canvas that area to find a way into central to get them out…"

"No," Waverly said firmly before Solo could finish. "Both Miss Dancer and Lane are trained Section Two agents. They should be quite capable of getting a communication out to us without sending both of you out and disrupting our plans. You, Mr. Solo, may go, but Mr. Kuryakin needs to stay here. What is our status on our infestation problem?"

"The last report from Miss Dancer was that the housekeeper that took the formulas from Miss Lane's desk were taken out of headquarters and made it to at least within that same four block area in the downtown area, here." Solo punched up a map on the video screen. "We can expect that THRUSH would know by now that those formulas were missing a key ingredient and that informant will be known to us."

"Yes, continue." Waverly started to pack his pipe with more tobacco.

"After Agent Lane left headquarters, she was supposed to go to the taxi stop on the north side of the next block, but she changed the plans and went south to the small park. Our sentry at the food stand talked with her and told her to watch out for THRUSH. He stated that she sat by the fountain to eat, but stopped when she noticed a fellow UNCLE worker, pitched the hotdogs, and headed deeper into the park.

"The UNCLE worker frequents the park and knows the sentry. He said it was Natalie. He didn't know what department she worked in, but said that she didn't react or follow Miss Lane. She was reading a book and then went back to headquarters. Nothing else was noted."

"Security logged Natalie Owens, a medical lab tech, out of headquarters at the same time. She was the one who drew several vials of blood from Mr. Kuryakin that were ordered by Doctors Allen, Samuel, and Thompson. She gave one vial to George Thompson's lab and the rest were given to Dr. Allen's."

"Is she a suspect, Mr. Solo?" Waverly asked softly.

"The evidence vaguely points to her, but nothing solid yet." Solo stated. "She'd be the one to watch as we investigate."

"Understood, Mr. Solo," Waverly said with a nod. "Mr. Kuryakin, you'll have to continue with your assignment and go back to Medical. Having Mr. Solo insist that you being in here has raised quite a few questions; I can only hold off Dr. Samuel off so long. He wants you to undergo a full assessment.

I'm waiting to get a similar request from Dr. Allen even though he knows some what we are up to, especially, since he's heard of the drug that Miss Lane unexpectedly gave you, Mr. Kuryakin, to alter your reaction to your personal trauma of her death. We need to monitor Miss Owens' reaction and other's within headquarters."

"Sir," Illya finally spoke after listening to what Napoleon had to say. "I think I would be better off helping Mr. Solo…"

"Nonsense," Waverly said angrily. "I will not lose you over sentimental feelings you or Mr. Solo may have concerning Miss Dancer or Miss Lane. Our objective is to rid headquarters of vermin. Mr. Solo can report back to me about finding THRUSH Central and take Mr. Slate with you. We've too much at stake, gentlemen to not play this game. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir." Both men said at the same time, getting up to leave Waverly's office.

MFU/MFU

April Dancer was surprised how easy it was for one person to get into TRHUSH Central. Getting out is the hardest part. She was in the right place at the right time.

While following the janitor who had the formulas from Lexi's desk, she noticed that he had stopped at an outside café near where April thought THRUSH Central could be and sat down by a young lady. Sitting close by, the red-headed agent overheard their conversation.

He was discussing how easy it was to get to the plans, what another informant had said about Lane's death, and the possibility of a pregnancy. The female was telling the man that he was wrong about Lane's death, which was faked, and that they had caught her disguised as a secretary walking out of the Del's. The young woman was in the detention detail who handled the captured UNCLE agent's security.

The man stiffened and wondered out loud if his life would end along with his time at UNCLE headquarters or if he would be transferred. The lady calmed the man down by placing her hand on his and telling him that the boss's secretary told her that he would be transferred.

He should get those formulas to Central soon; she instructed him and that she would follow shortly. With a quick kiss on the lady's forehead, the man left, wished his sister good luck and they would talk later that night.

April knew that she should've called into Waverly, but couldn't risk the time to wait for backup, because the woman was on the move only a minute behind her target. She followed the THRUSH worker down the street, picked the opening to a dark alley to use a tranquilizing dart, and carried similar sized woman into a dark corner.

The disguised UNCLE agent emerged from the corner in record time with the THRUSH employee's clothes, gun, and badge in her pocket as April barely caught a glimpse of her mark ducking into a downtown men's department store.

Getting past security took a little more finesse and charm, but with the lighted spray of hypnotic perfume and a whole lot of flirting, April got to where Sarah Waters worked in the interrogation cells. She darted a guard in the hall, threw him into a utility closet, and then began to quietly wait to see what THRUSH had planned for Lexi.

April had to ditch her communicator, gun, and purse behind the dumpster to get into Central and pass their sensors, but still had a few special toys available on her body if needed.

Rumors ran like wildfire around THRUSH Central as they did in UNCLE headquarters. Within the first hour, everyone was trying to get a look at Kuryakin's supposed girlfriend, wondering if she looked pregnant or not and how injured she was from the car bombing.

April had to smile at the typical jealousies and stereotypes the spy groups had for each other. She didn't know if Lexi wasn't pregnant or not, but that rumor could help in getting her out of Central without too much torture inflicted upon her friend. At least, April hoped so.

MFU/MFU

"Waverly here," the elder man said casually and continued to read the intelligence report from UNCLE headquarters in London when he snapped the channel open.

"Mr. Waverly, it's Allen in medical," an unsettled voice came through the speaker.

"Yes, Dr. Allen," he acknowledged the doctor. "You have a fitness report on Mr. Kuryakin ready? Is he ready to go home?"

"Well…that's just it." Waverly could hear the man swallow nervously.

"Spit it out, Dr. Allen." He grumbled. He'd work to do and no time to waste on such silliness.

"Mr. Kuryakin is getting worse, septic."

"Worse?" Waverly put down his file and looked at the control panel. "How so?"

"His temperature is increasing, his lungs are starting to fill up with fluid, and he's becoming slightly disoriented. If he declines anymore, we'll have to restrain him. We've started him on high doses of antibiotics and trying to cool the combative man down passively so far. We'll draw more blood at the top of the hour to see if the drugs are working. If we can't get the infection and fever under control, he'll become comatose if he doesn't die first."

"Give me hourly updates on his condition, Dr. Allen. Waverly out," he said and then stopped, sat back in his chair, grabbed his pipe to light it up, but stopped again, and dropped it carelessly onto the table.

MFU/MFU

"Miss Monica Lane." Dr. Grace Nimmons walked into the detention cell to see Lexi strapped to an exam chair. "Or should I call you Alexana Kuryakin?"

Lexi didn't have a chance to get away from the medics because they were backed up with a guard that held a gun on her at all times. If it wasn't such a nuance, she would've been flattered by all of this total attention. She was never this popular working for the KGB.

"Alexana Kuryakin is dead."

Lexi favored the female doctor with a bored look after she lifted her head up and noticed her face. Her left cheek had a nasty scar that was poorly healed and jagged. It gave her a mad scientist look that was complimented by her dirty lab coat and black medical bag filled with curious several vials and syringes. Her plump body practically trembled with excitement and anger at the same time. She put her bag down, opened it up, and pulled out IV supplies.

"It's Dr. Lane, thank you," Lexi said with a professional edge trying to buy some time while she watched the doctor stretch a rubber tourniquet around her secured arm. "You're a little early aren't you? Mr. Geerson isn't quite here yet for you to start your fun."

"Prep work for your session with me," she off-handedly said with an evil smile and mercilessly tightened the cord. "I heard that you're his girlfriend, cousin, or wife?"

"He gave you that scar." Lexi put two and two together, deciding to ignore her question. "I'm going to do far worse."

"My, my…" Nimmons looked up to meet the UNCLE agent's the challenge with an IV catheter held gracefully between her fat fingers. "It's hardly a way to treat your new lab partner."

"My what?"

Lexi yelped out when Nimmons viciously jabbed her arm with the needle.

"Geerson seems to think that we can get you to show me how to work your formulas and create new ones." She removed the trocar and taped the tubing into place. "I'm to condition you to work for us…"

"He'll not let that happen," Lexi said with a cold hard look that sent a small shiver down the rude doctor's back. "I'll not let it happen either, I promise."

"Promise all you want, but that little beast will be dead by the morning from my poison that one of the informant gave him as she drew his blood. The best part of it is, that it will look like that he is suffering a nasty infection, not dying from a poison. Antibiotics won't help him. His fever will continue to rise and cook that oversized brain and ego of his."

Lexi's anger got the best of her and she struggled against her restraints for a moment and then gave up with a controlled huff of breath. Ignoring Nimmon's throaty laugh, she calmly watched the evil doctor start to inject a milky fluid into the IV tubing.

"Well, I think, that I've heard enough," April Dancer said, walking up behind the medics and shot them, the guard, and mad doctor with her borrowed gun. She quickly ran to Lexi's side and shut off the IV line, hoping that she only received a small amount of the unknown drug in the line.

April then took the time to look at the downed people in the room. "Damn, only sleeping darts."

"Choryt!" Lexi cursed while she waited for April to release her restraints and restlessly tried to get out before April could get the last strap undone. "That stuff burns…Boy, I'm glad to see you. Did you hear what they did to Illya? Ouch, my side hurts!"

"Yes, I did, but we need to get you out of here first and then we'll deal with old blue eyes." April gently shook Lexi's shoulders to get her attention. "We need to hurry before more people come to the room. Now, put on the crazy doctor's oversized clothes."

"Right," Lexi agreed, stood up, pulled out the IV, and started to discard the thin gown. Then she started to swoon from dizziness. "Wow, I don't feel so well..."

"Stay with me just a little longer, sweetheart." April continued to hold Lexi by the shoulders. "You've got to get that lab coat on, grab her bag, and walk with me to the exit. We're going to get out of here before Geerson will know that you're gone."

Lexi nodded with the haze growing and did what she was told. She felt as if she had drunk a full bottle of wine all by herself on an empty stomach. She had to make herself swallow the urge not to giggle and concentrate on walking relatively in a straight line.

April linked arms with Lexi and propelled her out of the cell door, took the key off her guard uniform, broke it off in the lock, and then they confidently walked out of the detention area.

MFU/MFU

Napoleon and Mark Slate hadn't quite gotten to downtown by car because of the traffic when his communicator phone beeped.

"Solo here," he quickly answered from the passenger seat, hoping for some good news in this whole affair.

"Mr. Solo," Waverly said with a hint of urgency in his determined voice. "Miss Dancer called me from a payphone fearing discovery if she used her communicator so close to THRUSH Central. She has Miss Lane with her."

"Are they all right?" Mark asked, interrupting the boss.

"Miss Lane is a little worse for wear, but will be fine once you two can find Miss Dancer and help her get Miss Lane and a medical bag to headquarters. It may contain the poison and antidote needed to save Mr. Kuryakin's life."

"Illya, er, Mr. Kuryakin was poisoned?" Mark and Napoleon looked at each other in surprise. "How?"

"Apparently when Miss Owens was drawing his blood, she injected him with a poison," Waverly said matter-of-factly. "Once I heard this from Miss Dancer, I had her detained to await interrogation. Mr. Thompson is starting to look for an antidote to help him. Now, gentlemen, it's up to you to get that black bag back here."

"Did Miss Dancer give you a location to where we can find her and Miss Lane?" Napoleon asked, starting to look around for street signs to find out where exactly they were. "Why not send a cab…"

"Not possible; you're closer and Miss Dancer is being chased by THRUSH. She has gone underground to throw them off her tracks for a short time and is heading in your general direction. Meet up with them and bring them in."

"Yes sir, Solo out." Napoleon closed the communicator and sighed when Mark pointed to a place to park near the closest subway terminal.

"Cheer up, guv." Mark patted him on the shoulder. "Our April is full of tricks and Lexi's..."

"Certainly is a piece of work." Solo finished, ran his hands through his hair and then checked his gun.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"April, my boob is buzzing again." Lexi giggled like a school girl when they rounded a corner and headed down the steps of a downtown subway stop.

"Shhh...Lexi, you have to help me out here." April mournfully complained while she tried to shush the punch-drunk agent and help her down the stairs. If April hadn't kept a firm hand around Lexi's waist, she would've easily fallen down them.

"Like I said before, I think it's a tracking device that Geerson placed in your side to find you, because every time you tell me that your side is vibrating, we run into more THRUSH agents trying to locate us."

"Oh look, subway trains…" Lexi hobbled toward the turn-style, but was stopped by the rotating arm. "Money, I need money, April."

"I know you do, sweetheart." April nodded to an older couple who were watching Lexi's movements with concern. She looked like she'd just escaped a mental ward with a dress that was several sizes too big, a dirty lab coat that scrapped the ground, shoes that flopped with every step, and a voice that rang out with a child-like flourish to it.

April gestured that drugged agent was mentally retarded with a twirl of her finger in a circle. The distressed couple nodded with understanding before sympathetically smiling at Lexi. They let April pass in front of them to catch up with the merry agent. April grabbed some money out her borrowed clothes after shifting the heavy, black medical bag to her other hand. "Now, here's your money and let's get on the subway train."

"Back to my boyfriend and away from all these birdies…" Lexi sang out gleefully and grabbed for April's hand. "You know that Illya would be very cross with me it I told anyone that he was my boyfriend, but everyone seems to know that already."

"Yes, I know," April said with slight irritation as she looked nervously around. "Tell me something that I don't know."

"Well," Lexi started, but before she could say more, the overhead announcement covered her voice. April grunted in frustration. She'd have loved to known something that no else did at headquarters and now it was lost.

"That's our train." April guided Lexi to quickly get through the doors and set down on the first available seats during the rush hour wave of people pushing to get away from the downtown area.

The sobering agent resisted April's push for a moment while looking around the terminal before she got into the silver train and sat down. She grasped the medical bag tightly to her chest for a few moments, trying to clear her thoughts. Then Lexi suddenly got up and started to weave through the crowd toward the other end of the subway car.

"Hey, where do you think you are going? Lexi..," April asked harshly and jumped up from the seat to pick her way through the people entering the train to follow the crazy girl that got strange looks for being in the huge dress and dirty lab coat.

"I see a better seat over here." Lexi called out to April and unsteadily waited by one of the open doors for her to catch up.

The lights overhead were flashing a warning that the doors were going to close shortly as April stood face to face with Lexi; people were pushing and shoving at them while they passed by.

"Here, hold this." Lexi thrust the black medical bag at April, grabbed a hold of her arms tightly, and pushed her towards the closing doors. "You have to get this back to Illya. You're his only hope and mine. Mark was coming down the stairs behind us. Have him take you to headquarters and I'll lead them away. Hurry, April!"

"But…" April felt a big push that landed her painfully on the platform just as the subways doors shut and the train whisked Lexi away. Surprise and shock peppered her face when she felt an arm pick her up.

"April, are you all right?" Mark asked, looking in the direction she was staring. "Is that the bag? Where's Lexi?"

"She's on that train." April said in a stunned voice, pointing to the retreating train car. Dumbfounded by Lexi's actions, she looked at Mark. "She's trying to draw THRUSH away from us so we can get this to headquarters. They placed a tracer under her skin. She knew that they would follow her instead of me."

"I'll tell Napoleon." Mark shook his head and drew his communicator out of his pocket, looking around for what the next stop was. "There's a bit of time between this stop and the next. Maybe he and backup can get there in time to get to her. I'll call while you and I get up top and to my car. What's the matter?"

"I'm just worried about her," April nervously said, rubbing her arms where Lexi had grabbed them. "She was still pretty loopy from a drug she was given and I don't know if she'll be all right."

"Come on, Napoleon will find her and she'll be fine, Luv." Mark placed his arm around her shoulders. "Besides, she wouldn't forgive us if we let Illya get worse. Punishment from the Russian is painful enough. I hate to see what she would do to us. She'd probably hit me again."

"Oh, Mark," April said with a snort and they hurried to leave the subway terminal while Mark reported in.

MFU/MFU

George Thompson walked into the hospital room where Illya Kuryakin was resting and watched the sleeping agent. He had given him the viral antigen antidote that he had just developed with Lexi in their lab a few weeks ago and it appeared to be working so far.

Where Lexi was the master at creating hypnotics, his forte was poisons. Both of them worked together on the production of antidotes that could cover as many types of harmful drugs as possible. Working together, they had produced an impressive catalog of useful antidotes.

George went over to the blond man and checked his chart. His fever was down and he appeared to be breathing better, although George could still hear Illya wheeze with every breath he took. He almost looked peaceful until his body would only occasionally twitch and pull against the restraints.

"George." A soft whisper of a voice came from the sweat-stained sheets. "Is that you?"

"Yes," George said softly and sat down by the bed in Napoleon's usual plastic chair. His being here was beginning to becoming a habit for him as well as Napoleon. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, I think," he croaked out breathlessly, turned his head toward George, and looked at him with blurry eyes. "What about April and Lexi, have you heard anything?"

"April and Mark are on the way in with the medical bag." George reported from what he had heard last. "I don't know about Lexi yet. April got her out of Central, but they got separated in the subway. Napoleon is looking for her now. I know that he'll find her."

"Yes…Napoleon." Illya nodding, swallowed, and then struggled against the restraints trying to get up. I've got to help him…Let me out of these…"

"I can't, Illya," George said sadly while he gently pushed Illya's shoulders back down on the bed. "You're still running a fever from the poison, a little out of it, and very weak. Give my highly experimental antidote a chance to work first.

"I don't know how long it's going to take to neutralize the poison in your system. Once they get that medical bag in here, I can see if there's an antidote or make one from the poison. Sorry, I afraid you're stuck with me."

"I know, George. I just hate waiting and not being able to help…"

"We all do." George agreed with a knowing smile. "Where's Lexi to pin our ears back, tell us to stop feeling sorry for ourselves, and get our shit together?"

Illya's chest jerked softly from the small chuckle before a wet cough erupted from his throat. He waved to George that he was all right and leaned his head back against the damp pillow to rest, closing his eyes.

George stood up, checked the flow of oxygen to Illya's nasal cannula, and quietly left the room. He was hoping that this small sign of improvement would mark the turning point for friend.

"Dr. Thompson, Miss Dancer has just arrived with the bag." A nurse told him after he silently closed the door to Illya's room.

"Great," he said with a clap of his big hands together and he started to race toward his lab. "Thank you, Constance. Keep me informed on Mr. Kuryakin's condition."

MFU/MFU

Lexi's body began to shake while her mind was finally cleared from the hypnotic drug. She was sitting quietly in the corner, almost hidden, on the subway car. She took the time to search the pockets of the lab coat and came up with a single syringe filled with some unknown substance.

Clutching the tiny hypo in her hand, Lexi stood up and made her way to the automatic doors. She knew that she wouldn't be left alone for long from the continual buzzing in her side and had to get away from the subway system as soon as possible. She ignored all the stares that looked her way while she watched for danger in the periphery.

Cautiously, she followed the crowd out of the subway car when her hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Looking up, Lexi caught a movement out of the corner of her eye. Quickly, she popped off the cap from the needle when a hand roughly grabbed her arm and pulled her sharply to the right.

Without even looking, Lexi lashed out with the hypodermic and slammed into the arm that was pulling her away from the crowd. When the needle hit skin and bone, she plunged the drug home. The THRUSH agent screamed out and let her go. She took off in the opposite direction as fast as her shaky legs and big shoes could take her.

Running through the crowd of people like an insane woman, Lexi noticed the mad Dr. Nimmons planning to block her way to the steps to freedom. Her chubby body was swatted down in a typical football stance of a frontline man. Overhead, she could hear shouts for help to stop the crazy woman that escaped the mental hospital from leaving the platform.

Lexi hysterically laughed at this whole ridiculous situation she was in and didn't even try to avoid the evil doctor. She used her opponent's momentum against her when she side stepped the bigger woman's lunge and gave her twist to the right to throw her off balance.

Lexi couldn't resist in pushing Nimmons' head harder into the cement floor than necessary as she passed. The doctor grunted out in pain just before she fell unconscious.

Luck and time was running out quickly for Lexi and she knew it. Her performance with Dr. Nimmons didn't go unnoticed by a cop patrolling the area.

"It's okay, lady," the cop said with hands out as he stood in front of Lexi. "I'm here to help you."

"I have people after me. You have to help me…"

Lexi knew that what she was saying was falling on deaf ears. With the way she looked and her recent actions, she wouldn't believe her either, but she had to get past the big, burly, bulldog of a cop.

The slight Section Two agent came close enough him to stomp on his foot, but since she had lost her over-sized shoes while running, the impact didn't carry the weight it needed to distract him. The cop was able to get a hold of Lexi's arm and pull her into a tight bear hug.

"No!" she struggled; trying to slip from his grip. "I have to get to UNCLE."

"You'll be fine, lady." The cop grunted and he held her firm. "Looks like your uncle's on the way over here as we speak."

Lexi stopped struggling enough to look where the cop was nodding and saw Mr. Geerson walk toward them with a crisp white lab coat over an expensive tailored suit and a small syringe twirling in his hand.

"He's not from UNCLE. He's the bad guy…"

"Sure, he's the bad guy; he's the one who's going to take you back to the hospital," the cop chuckled softly before Lexi tried to swing a nasty blow to his neck.

But the cop still held on to her while Geerson stood in front of them. "Stop that! Good thing that you're here, doc. She's a feisty one for sure. A few more pounds and she'd have given me a run for my money."

"Yes, Monica can be a handful." Geerson smiled evilly down at the restrained agent and grabbed her wrist painfully to pull it out from the cop's tight grasp. He plunged the needle and drug home into an already abused vein in one swift move.

"Thank you officer for your assistance, she'll be more cooperative now. I'll take over for you. I have my team on the way to help me."

"Sure thing, doc," the cop nodded with the young lady starting to slump toward the floor. "It's too bad that she's messed up in the head, she's a looker."

"Yes," Geerson laughed softly at the cop, pulling the sedated agent up, and held her next to him by supporting Lexi at her waist. She began to mumble incoherently. "She's certainly given my team their exercise for the day. I'll make sure she gets back to the hospital safely. Thank you again, officer."

"Just doing my job," the cop smiled proudly and walked off.

"Well, my dear Monica," Geerson said with an air finality and dragged her to a bench near the wall where they both could sit down. He leaned her against his shoulder and wrapped his arms around her tightly, almost lovingly. He even started to stroke her hair and forehead.

"You certainly have caused me a lot of trouble. I should've never under estimated you. You're so much like Mr. Kuryakin that it's astonishing to think this is the first time you've come to our attention.

"I have to tell you that Dr. Nimmons will not like you very much for all the pain and embarrassment you caused her. I'm afraid that she will expect you to be punished. So will the Mr. Kim for that nasty injection you gave him while trying to get off the train.

"Now that we know for sure that you're not pregnant, it's going to be more severe than I had planned." Geerson sadly sighed.

Lexi struggled and murmured in a language unknown to him and he pulled her closer, noticing a warm wet spot on her side. The THRUSH boss lifted his hand to look at it and saw that it had some blood on it. Then he turned his wrist to glance at his watch.

"Well now, you're bleeding, I suspect it's from that tracer I had the surgeon put there," Geerson patiently said pulling out a remote from his pocket, pressed a button, and talked into it. "Where is the back up?"

"They won't be becoming, Eric." A dark haired man stood behind Geerson. "May I join you two? It seems like you're waiting for someone to show up. Will I do?"

Napoleon Solo didn't wait for a response, walked around the bench, and sat down on the other side of Lexi. Geerson pocketed the remote and quietly drew out his gun. He pulled Lexi closer by bringing his arm from her waist to around her shoulder while she rested her drowsy head against his shoulder.

"Napoleon," Geerson grimaced, but remained calm. "What brings you here?"

"I'm here to collect my stolen property." Napoleon crossed his legs and tugged the cuffs of his jacket.

"Stolen property?" He sputtered out loud. "You let her go out on her own and wounded at that. I believe that possession is nine-tenths of the law of ownership. She belongs to us now."

"I'll tell you now that she's hard to control and very stubborn." Napoleon smiled down at Lexi, who continued to mumble softly to herself.

"Just like her boyfriend. Why would you want two of them?" Geerson sarcastically spat out. "I'm willing to take this one off your hands. She has talents that would be very useful to us. To tear you and your partner apart would be worth the time and effort to make her one of us."

"Yes, she could have that ability, but she won't do it." Napoleon agreed with a warm, soft glance at the woman and chuckle to her present state of stupor. "Let her go, because you owe me a favor."

"I owe you a favor?" he said in shock. "I don't owe you any favors, Napoleon."

"Oh, I believe you do," Napoleon said with an air of complete confidence. "You're waiting for your fellow THRUSH agents to come and get you, but you will have to admit that they're slow to arrive."

"Yes, they're a bit delayed." Geerson agreed and made his gun more visible to Napoleon, looking up and down the now deserted terminal. "But, I have the advantage. I could shoot her or you before anyone could be the wiser."

"You could, but you won't," Napoleon said softly with certainty. "This is your only opportunity to leave here alive before..."

"Leave with her, I accept." Geerson smiled boldly. He quickly stood up with Lexi, blocking any shot that Napoleon would have to bring him down, whereas he had his gun was leveled at Solo's stomach. "Stay where you are, Solo."

Napoleon slowly rose up from the bench with his hands up. Geerson continued to slowly walk backwards with his arm around Lexi's waist again. She had stopped struggling and leaned into him, nuzzling him, and then started to hum. The drug he gave her was starting to take its full effect.

"Oh, Eric," she purred and tightened her embrace. "You have been so sweet to me, but I must really be going home now…"

"Yes, we're going home." Geerson nodded, trying not to let her distract him from pointing his gun at Napoleon. "Now be a good girl and stay close. We don't want Napoleon to shoot you."

"Napoleon wouldn't shoot me." Lexi snickered and again wrapped her arms tighter around his waist.

"That's what I'm counting on." Geerson said, he pulling the trigger of his gun. The shot would have hit Napoleon in the chest, but Lexi choose that moment to back up against Geerson and threw his aim off.

The blast from the bullet hit Napoleon's arm and shoved him back into the wall with great force. Lexi tried spin around, but Geerson firmly held on to her.

"No, Napoleon…Illya…" Lexi slurred out.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"Illya will be dead soon too." Geerson mumbled, ignoring what Lexi was saying and pulled her with him toward the stairs.

"No, Mr. Geerson, you'll be." A low, raspy, growl came from behind.

A small pop was heard from behind and Geerson went limp. He dropped the gun and fell back, letting go of Lexi on the way down. Wobbly, she swayed and dropped to sit on the floor beside him in a daze.

Illya's gun shook as he stood unsteadily. He trembled, wiping the sweat from his brow, and swallowed a cough that threatened to erupt from his chest.

"Illya," Napoleon called out. He awkwardly got up and ran to his partner's side just in time to catch him before his legs collapsed from underneath him. "What are you doing here and out of Medical?"

"Saving your ass," Illya uttered in between pants while Napoleon guided him down to sit on the ground with his good arm. "How is Lexi? How badly are you shot?"

"It's just a little hole, through and through, thanks to Lexi. She's drugged and feeling no pain right now." Napoleon smiled and grabbed for his communicator. "Solo here. I've two incapacitated agents who need a ride back to UNCLE."

Illya had crawled slowly to where Lexi was. She was lying on her side, playing with her hair, and staring at the ceiling. He pulled her back up to a sitting position and gave her a hug.

"I heard a funny rumor about you and us." Illya whispered softly into his lover's ear.

"Ha! You know that's not physically possible right now." Lexi nuzzled the shivering, feverish man while holding him tight. "I just thought I'd cause a little drama."

"And that shot?" The blond agent asked sullenly. "That wasn't part of the plan. What does it do?"

Lexi only hummed and stroked his cheek with hers. This was the only time she could show public affection; drugged to the gills.

"So tell me, my friend." Napoleon asked Illya, pulling his thoughts back to the world around him. He was leaning over the couple, checking out his ruined suit coat, and then sighing in resignation. "How did you get out of medical?"

"An escapee doesn't reveal his secrets, because he may have to use them again. I'll have to apologize for hitting Dr. Samuel the next time I see him." Illya wheezed painfully though Lexi's hair while she helped hold him up.

Napoleon just laughed after he signaled the Section Three agents that it was all right to let the Medical and clean up staff into the blocked off area.

"If you think that I'm going to get on that stretcher, Napoleon," Illya hissed out; "You're mistaken."

"Nobody wants you back in Medical anyway." Napoleon stuck out his tongue at him when he offered his hand to Lexi. "Your carriage awaits my dear."

"Are you expecting me to listen?" Lexi smiled lopsidedly, taking his hand, but sat rooted to the spot.

Napoleon looked at her and rolled his eyes. Her hair was tossed every which way, with dirty skin and clothes, and blood that spotted her side. She was still beautiful. "Yes or I'll hand you over to THRUSH personally myself."

"Humm…an agent for THRUSH," Lexi giggled. She then tried to concentrate while she looked at him with unfocused eyes and nodded her head. "Thank you and I will take that ride. I'm feeling a little out of sorts right now, but no restraints."

"That's entirely up to you, my dear. I'll go and get loverboy." Napoleon said after he helped her to the gurney and then went back to Illya. "One down and one more to go, come on Illya, get on the stretcher or I'll have to dart you."

"I'm fine..." Illya started, trying to get up off the ground, but couldn't quite manage it on the first try. "George thinks most of the poison has cleared and my fever is down…"

"Right," an unconvinced Napoleon said with a sigh, pulled out his gun, and shot his partner with a tranquilizing dart in the chest.

Illya grimaced, but was too weak to react much. He watched Napoleon's actions and was out before he could say another word.

"Man, I'm going to pay for this later," Napoleon grumbled to himself and helped the orderly lift his partner up to the cart. He groaned painfully as the motion strained his hurt arm. "Paybacks are a bitch, but sometimes it's the only way to get him to listen to me."

The orderly merely nodded, agreeing with Solo while he strapped the sleeping agent down.

MFU/MFU

Illya woke up with a start. The door to his room had slammed shut loud enough to wake him. His eyes roamed around the room. He wondered how long he had been out of it this time. He swore that he spent more time in Medical than in his own apartment.

Illya was still weak and had an IV, but was feeling stronger. What caught him off guard was to be restrained. He looked around again to make sure that he was indeed in UNCLE's medical.

"Hey, good morning, sunshine," Napoleon said with a tentative smile in the other bed. His arm was in a sling and he was sitting on the bed with his usual blue satin pajamas on. "You have been out for two days, sleeping like a log…"

"You shot me!" Illya angrily shouted at him. "Why am I in these restraints and how's Lexi?"

"Yes, I shot you." Napoleon challenged his partner. "I needed to get you back to headquarters. George said that I did the right thing. You needed more of his 'highly experimental' antidote to save your miserable little life. He said the poison was still packing a punch."

"How many," Illya asked.

"Four," Napoleon said to the number of moles that were caught: "The janitor, but he was sent back to THRUSH as you know; Natalie Owens, from the Med. Labs; Jake Benson, a mail currier who took your blood sample to THRUSH; and Connie Yates, a secretary that was named by Natalie when we interrogated her. Waverly thinks that there still maybe more."

"Lexi," Illya asked while he simmered and tugged on the restraints. "What room is she in if we are in our usual one?"

"She isn't in Medical. She's on restricted duty and working in her lab with George. I'm the lucky one who got stuck with you, but I'm getting out today. Dr. Allen took out the homing tracer from her side and she sweet talked him out of this place once she was over the sedative drug's effects."

Illya growled out a string of curse words in every language he knew. Afterwards, he took a deep breath in while he ignored Napoleon's laughter. He tugged even harder on the leather straps with his wrists. Then he forced himself to calm down.

After a few moments of calm and several more deep breaths, Illya turned to Napoleon and quietly asked in total exhaustion. "Okay, now for the biggest question of the day, why the restraints?"

"Well…I'm glad that you're in them the way you woke up…" Napoleon smirked.

"Napoleon," Illya said in a deadly smooth voice and glared at him.

"Samuel ordered it." Napoleon shrugged as if it was a normal for the doctor to do that.

"Why?"

"He's concerned about you." Napoleon looked all around the room except at his partner to prevent from cracking up.

"Concerned?" Illya's eyes got big. "Why?"

"That you are danger to yourself and others after a Section Two's death that was meant for you. And with you escaping your restraints by conning a nurse to release you from your bed to use the bathroom…"

"But," Illya pleaded. "He knows now that she's not dead and if I hadn't gotten out, you would have been killed and Lexi would have been taken back to THRUSH Central..."

"Illya," Napoleon said in a patient voice. "Try to be reasonable. You punched the man out when he tried to stop you."

"I did what I had to do." Illya said unapologetically. "I was delirious from the fever."

"Well, he's not going to let you out of those until he's ready and you know that means. A full psych evaluation for you my friend," Napoleon said and shivered at the thought.

"No…not that." Illya moaned and slumped back onto the bed and then straightened up. "You could release just one strap and I can take care of the rest…"

"I would love nothing more to help you, but I'm wounded." Napoleon lovingly stroked his arm and gave his partner a mock look of pain. "Besides, I don't want to go through a psych evaluation myself if I'm caught letting you go."

"Fine," Illya grumbled and he turned away from his tormentor as far as the restraints would let him.

Napoleon rolled his eyes, knowing that he was not going to get any more out of his stubborn co-hort.

As if it was planned, Lexi came into the room carrying a big basket with her. She had the basic UNCLE uniform under a clean lab coat that actually fit her. After closing the door, she looked from Illya to Napoleon and smiled at the dark-haired man.

"Constance told me that he was awake." Lexi walked over to Napoleon, set the basket down on his bed, and gave the dashing agent a hug and kiss.

"Watch out for Mr. Surly over there." Napoleon warned her in a theatric whisper.

"The surlier and angrier the better," she said and smiled sweetly. "I think that it's time for you to go for a walk, darling, and leave me alone with him."

"I'll go make a phone call to Caitlin, so she can pick me up. The one who usually does it isn't able to come home yet."

"She's already told me how she intends to take care of you, _Napoleon_. I hear a sponge bath is in your future…" Lexi simpered to him and helped pull him off the bed by his good arm and into another hug. "Thank you for your help."

"Anything for you, beautiful," Napoleon said, releasing her and let her walked him to the door. "Make him happy or he'll never get out of those restraints."

"Oh, I don't want him out of them just yet anyway." Lexi patted his arm. Napoleon half turned toward her and started to point to himself wondering if he could get the same treatment. She just continued to push him out the door. "No Napoleon, he must suffer alone with me. This isn't a partner thing. Don't come in, even if you hear laughter. George is guarding the monitors."

Illya listened to what Napoleon and Lexi were saying, but he didn't stop staring at the opposite wall. When she had finally pushed Napoleon out of the room, Illya could hear her grab the basket and walk toward him in his side vision. He smiled quickly and then returned his face to stone while she covered the camera with a cloth and darkened the room.

The first thing that his senses picked up was the smell of warm stew and borsht. As Illya turned, he caught a motion of something coming toward him. She had brought a feather with her and swiped it under his chin. He trembled with anticipation and pleasure, even though they could only go so far in headquarters and his physical state, but that was old news in their extended relationship.

"Mein Herr," Lexi said in a low sexy German accent. "We need to discuss what to do about all the rumors going around about you being my boyfriend. I believe it's time to admit that we are a couple, that I'm your girlfriend."

"No, never, not without being torture. You're not going to win this game easily." Illya panted playfully as she drew her fingers lightly around his body, knowing exactly where he was the most sensitive.

"Must everything be settled by torture with you?" Lexi asked, dipping fingers into the chocolate frosting that she had pulled from the basket and brought them to her lips to seductively suck on them, but not offering him some.

"You're not going to eat that in front of me are you," he asked in a pitiful, pleading voice. She smiled and gave him a playful wink.


End file.
